Right now the showiest foliage in my yard is displayed by ‘Autumn Brilliance’ Serviceberry (Amelanchier x grandiflora ‘Autumn Brilliance’). I have six of these upright, multi-stem shrubs in a couple different spots in my yard, and I consider them pretty much indispensible. There are few shrubs that are happy in shade that have as much to …
Most of the gardeners I know, read, and talk to have a strong bias in favor of an organic approach to soil fertility. I share that bias. In almost all of my garden, all I do is add mulch with some compost here and there. (And I’m planning on cutting back on the compost after …
As winter closes in, I find myself turning more and more to that emotional survival trick of gardeners everywhere: obsessing over what I’m going to plant next spring. As I peruse my books and catalogs, I keep running into an ominous phrase: “self-sows freely”. Experienced gardeners know what this means. It means that you are …
Yesterday we drove up to St. Paul, Minnesota, to celebrate my birthday with my younger son, my brother Richard, and his wife Diane. When we get to St. Paul, we like to take a little hike at Minnehaha Park, site of the waterfalls made famous, though never actually visited, by the poet Longfellow (“By the …
“Oh, hushed October morning mild, Thy leaves have ripened to the fall; Tomorrow’s wind, if it be wild, Should waste them all … Oh, hushed October morning mild, begin the hours of this day slow. Hearts not averse to being beguiled, Beguile us in the way you know. Release one leaf at break of day, …
Now that I have the taxonomy issue out of my system (see last post), I can write about the asters in my garden. (As hillwards points out, “They may not be Asters any more, but they will always be asters …”). All the asters I grow except for one are Midwest USA natives and straight …
I like Asters. Along with Goldenrods, they make my favorite fall garden combination. When it comes to Asters, however, I have been botanically incorrect for years. Thanks to the taxonomists, Asters aren’t really Asters anymore (with a few exceptions). No, now they are Doellingerias, Eurybias, and (for most North American Asters) Symphyotrichums. A couple have even …
Goldenrods (Solidago sp.) are one of the iconic flowers of fall. Because it is a common roadside weed, and because it is often inaccurately blamed for the airborne pollen that aggravates hayfever, some people have a hard time thinking of goldenrods as garden plants. That’s a shame, because they can add texture as well as …
Fall in the garden means seedheads, pods, and fruit join flowers and foliage as features of the garden. So here are some non-floral highlights for mid-September: I forget what this variety is called, but I think I’ve decided I like these plain green and white Caladiums (Caladium bicolor) best. I built this raised bed on …
Not go as in to the compost pile, but rather to another spot in an nearby flower bed. Some two seasons ago I had to fill a hole in the raised bed along the front walk created by my removal of some diseased purple coneflowers (Echinacea purpurea). I filled it with two Joe Pye Weed …
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